for the English 34 Honors Seminar at Foothill College

April 20, 2008

Welcome to the E34 Honors Seminar Blog for Foothill College in Spring Qtr 2008. This site is intended for the exclusive use of currently enrolled E34 students and their invited guests only. For further information email Professor Scott Lankford directly.

Yes there are millions of vapid, empty-headed blogs out there. Maybe you've even written one yourself. But that doesn't mean the entire blogosphere is one vast desert of meaningless mental mush -- especially in countries where freedom of the press is restricted (including our own).

Think it can't happen here? San Francisco-based blogger Josh Wolf now holds the record for the longest period of imprisonment ever endured by a U.S. journalist -- recently released after a record 225 days in jail.

Check out my insta-blog live-from-The-Farm report at the first annual Honors Research Symposium at Stanford -- an event I attended (along with more than a dozen other Foothill folks) last Friday, April 18th.

So now do you understand why I'm just a wee bit late grading your first week blog posts???

April 23, 2008

Here's a quick list of some of the top Foothill Honors Student ePortfolios from previous quarters -- especially those which clearly demonstrate a specific academic focus, objective outside evaluations, and plenty of thoughtful self-reflection. Admittedly some are not that "pretty to look at." But hey, now that it's 2008, how about adding audio, video, flash animation, slide shows, and other new-school techno-tricks to make your own ePortfolio that much more appealing, revealing, and addictive?

April 24, 2008

Since I’m (usually)
the only one who reads every single blog post every single week, I copy a few of the most interesting quotes into a word document as a
way to keep the conversation rolling. Feel free to visit your peers’ blogs if you want to add your own
responses to their ideas! And hey, if you didn't "get quoted" this particular week, don't despair: your 15 seconds of fame will come soon!

May 04, 2008

Your fellow Honors Seminar student -- and volunteer Techno-Tutor -- Ian Wang was kind enough to create a blog post about how to add videos to your blog post, a skill I asked him to share with others. Wow, great job of cyber-teaching, Ian! Just follow the little blue link to Ian's blog and you can see what we're talking about or yourself and get started!

May 07, 2008

What's that you say, Bubbles? You really really do want to actually maybe somehow get yourself into Berkstanvard University? Then why not plan to present your research on ePortfolios (either as a group or individually) at one or more of the following conferences next year? Adding a conference presentation to your CV sure would help your Berkstanvard application stand out from the crowd, wouldn't it now?

Still confused? Don't beleive me? Want to see what actual conference presentations on the topic of ePortfolios by real live community college faculty and students might look like?. Well then glance at the list of titles of student presentations at New York's recent LaGuardia Community College Conference on ePortfolios held in April 2008. You can even download a PDF with every single presentation from their website. Oh and here's another major conference on ePortfolios just concluded a few days ago in Montreal. Dang, we missed that one too...but you can still glance at the topics they covered as inspiration for your own!

Legendary singer/songwriter Niel Young -- who still lives in La Honda less than 15 miles from Foothill -- recently announced his intention to publish his entire life work on the new Blu-Ray disk format (yet another "emerging technology" which could be adapted to the task of creating a digital identity). Blu-Ray's appeal? Vastly better sound quality than CDs or MP3s and enough data storage for almost any project! Here's today's article from the San Jose Mercury News. Meanwhile, Rock on, Neil. Long may you run. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9179048?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

May 20, 2008

Join Michiu Kaku, a world-renowned physicist and popular host of science-based shows on TV and radio, for a brief YouTube tour of the world of virtual reality -- conducted mainly by Kaku's Second Life avatar. Born in San Jose, Kaku went to Cubberly High School and Berkeley before earning his PhD in physics at Harvard. Special thanks to E34 student Andrew Quinterro for putting me wise to this video!

July 29, 2008

Using the instructions so carefully provided by my amazingTechie-TA Ian, I'm finally learning the process of digital storytelling for myself this summer. Here's my first-ever effort, tentatively titled "Tahoe--I Never Saw Blue Like That Before." Adding voice-over will be my next learning curve.